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Ben Kennedy made five appearances in the Camping World Truck Series last season. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

It didn't take Turner Scott Motorsports long to fill the Camping World Truck Series seat vacated when 2012 champion James Buescher left for a full-time Nationwide Series ride with RAB Racing. Ben Kennedy, great-grandson of NASCAR founder the late Bill France, grandson of the late NASCAR president Bill France Jr. and son of ISC/NASCAR executive Lesa France Kennedy will compete for Truck Series Rookie of the Year in the No. 31 Chevrolet Silverado.

Kennedy, who turns 22 next week, will work with crew chief Michael Shelton, who helped Buescher win the 2012 CMTS title. Kennedy ran five Truck Series races last season, three of them for TSM. His best finish with the team was fourth in the fall race at Martinsville Speedway. His NASCAR resume also includes two poles, two victories, seven top-five finishes and 23 top-10 finishes in 47 K&N Pro Series races dating to 2010. He was ninth and fourth in K&N points in 2012 and 2013.

“I'm excited about being in the Turner Scott Motorsports' truck for 2014 and working alongside Michael Shelton and a very talented crew,” Kennedy said in a statement from the team. “It'll be a great year and I hope to learn a lot and compete for wins and Rookie of the Year. It'll be a blast to work with such great people [and] I can't thank everyone I've worked with in the past enough for getting me to this point in my career.”

Kennedy goes to a championship-level organization. Buescher won the 2012 Truck Series title and Dylan Kwasniewski won this year's K&N Pro Series East title. All told, TSM truck teams won 10 poles and four races last season, with Buescher (third), Jeb Burton (fifth) and Miguel Paludo (ninth) finishing top 10 in points.

“We're very excited to have Ben running full time for us,” said TSM co-owner Harry Scott Jr. “We've all seen his potential over the last few years and we're looking forward to seeing all that he can accomplish for us. He's an impressive young man who is not only a talented racer, but also very smart and very driven.”